Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week I talked about medical travel and the policy and how it needs to be fixed up. I have questions today for the Minister of Health and Social Services. It was brought to my attention last week, and the Minister knows that we do lack some services in the communities, specifically psychiatrists, psychologists and, to put it into perspective, child psychiatrists
I would like to ask the Minister, in terms of dealing with medical travel, when we have children that don’t have access to some of these services that we are lacking in the NWT, sometimes our families have to take their children down south to see a specialist and sometimes these individuals are non-status so they’re not covered in terms of paying for the airfare. They have to pay partial airfare for their children when they go down as well as cover accommodations, or if accommodations come up by somebody who is status, then they’re removed. I would like to ask the Minister how are these going to be addressed in the Medical Travel Policy moving forward.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
Mr. Speaker, what I can say is that we are doing a review of medical travel and we are certainly hearing the concerns that are being brought up by the Member and by committee and by the public at large. There is no question that we’re certainly having some challenges with the way that medical travel works today. What I can say is we hear the Member. I will take the information he’s providing. If he has any additional information, please get it to us so that we can include it in the review. As far as how it works out, we need to do that and we need to bring it to committee for discussion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, my questions are arising because we’re lacking some services in the NWT. I know the department is looking at developing physician recruitment and possibly developing a pool of physicians here in Yellowknife. What’s lacking there is we don’t have psychiatrists or psychologists that we do need in the small communities for so many different issues.
Would the Minister be looking to address these concerns of medical travel, look at doing a recruitment on psychiatrists for the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we’re always looking to fill the established positions that we have. We will continue to go out and actively recruit physicians and physician specialists to fill the positions that exist within the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we already have a high cost of living. We are adding more costs to our long-term residents of the Northwest Territories and we’re asking them to front costs on medical travel for their children and family members that are non-status.
Can the Minister give me a timeline on the revision of this Medical Travel Policy that can come before committee so we can start working on that? Does he have a timeline so we will see the revision of this Medical Travel Policy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, as the Member knows and all of the committee knows, there are a number of initiatives going on with the Department of Health and Social Services. I am a new Minister. I have been a Minister far less than a week at this point. I’ve asked for an opportunity to meet with committee to discuss these exact types of things, to talk about where we stand on a number of projects and seek committee’s assistance as we move forward. I don’t really have a date for the conclusion of this medical travel review just yet, but I certainly am looking forward to discussing that with committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A lot of our concerns that have come up are from people who work for the GNWT, but I just want to know that in the Medical Travel Policy, would the Minister work with the Department of Human Resources to address these employees of the GNWT get time off, possibly paid time off when they have to escort their family members, children, down south when we don’t have the services up here in the Northwest Territories? Is he willing to work with the Department of Human Resources so that the policy does reflect our GNWT employees and they can get time with pay on these travels? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the GNWT has one of the most generous benefit packages available for all employees in the Northwest Territories. We provide significant amounts of sick leave, annual leave and special leave which may be used for a variety of different reasons. These benefits of employment that we do have are negotiated with our unions. We would obviously have to have a discussion with Health and Social Services, who in turn would have to have a discussion with their unions. The bottom line is we will certainly raise that with HR, but they will have to have that discussion with the union if that is something that the union is interested in and also the employer is interested in. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In early October 2013, Stats Canada released information that clearly showed that food prices rose by over 5 percent since the opening of the Deh Cho Bridge. In fact, in the last 10 months since the bridge opened, six out of those seven months saw steady increases in food prices.
It was only September that Stats Can showed food prices with a slight decrease of 2.3 percent. Many of us are scratching our heads why, not one anomaly and a sudden drop of the pattern.
Clearly, this pattern of activity raises concern on the exact impact the bridge has on commodity prices for Yellowknifers’ basic needs. My questions today are for the Minister of Transportation. We were continuously reminded by the previous Minister and the Department of Transportation that the bridge would have minimal effect on such thing as food prices.
Can the new Minister guarantee the department’s statement is indeed accurate today? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Since the opening of the Deh Cho Bridge, food prices overall in Yellowknife have gone up by 2.1 percent. In the same time period when we compare it with the cost increases in Alberta, it’s 2.8; 2.9 in Saskatchewan; and 2.8 in Manitoba. So I don’t think the increases can be directly associated with the bridge. Some of it could be, but it’s not significantly higher, or in fact it’s not higher than anywhere else. Thank you.
Thank you. As the Minister is aware, I was a previous owner of a retail business here in Yellowknife and I can tell you that the costs of the bridge are significant. A medium-sized business here in Yellowknife could have costs of anywhere between $50,000 to $60,000 extra per year, and I don’t think that’s minimal.
How is the Transportation Minister making sure that trucking companies are passing the appropriate fare tolls to their end user? Thank you.
Thank you. The trucking industry is an unregulated industry, just like the airline industry is an unregulated industry. However, what we’re seeing is that with the Deh Cho Bridge, the competition is what’s going to bring the costs down. There hasn’t been a significant increase in other areas, either, in this time period. The cost of fuel has only gone up by 1.6 percent, gasoline by 0.3 percent, footwear by 1 percent and household furnishings by 0.4 percent, so it’s not significantly an increase that is a result of the bridge. Thank you.
Thank you. We’re clearly deflecting the answers to the question here, so let’s talk about the issues we can control. Is there an audit process to validate the workings of the toll collection system and is this Minister willing to report that to the House?
Thank you. Was the question is there an auto toll? I thought that’s what the question was. Yes? Auto toll?
Minister Beaulieu, I’ll let the Member stand up and ask the question again. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question for the Minister was: Is there an audit process to validate the workings of the toll collection system, and if so, is the Minister willing to report that to the House? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Order! Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There was a lot of work done in the cost-benefit analysis before the bridge was completed to get some good baseline data. So my assumption is that there will be an audit and I’m assuming these numbers are from some form of an audit that was done on the cost of the various items. If more audits need to be done on this, I’m sure that the department is continuing to track for the purpose of determining if the bridge has put a heavy burden as far as cost goes on the items that are being sold in Yellowknife. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It looks like we’re adding a checklist item for the Minister to do here and I’m looking forward to his response.
Is there a process to the audit of the bridge toll policies with users? How often are we reviewing these policies end users? Can the Minister bring that information to the House? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General will audit the tolls and I can bring that information to the House. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document, entitled Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditure), No. 1, 2014-2015. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled NWT Community Futures Program 2011-2012 Annual Report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Moses.
TABLED DOCUMENT 3-17(5):
CANADIAN HERITAGE NEWS RELEASE: NWT STUDENT USES MODERN TECHNOLOGY TO STUDY HISTORIC ABORIGINAL LAND CLAIM –
VIDEO TO DEBUT IN OTTAWA
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to table the news release, entitled NWT Student Uses Modern Technology to Study Historic Aboriginal Land Claim - Video to Debut in Ottawa. It highlights Julienne Chipesia, a student at East Three School who did some work in the Gwich’in land claim treaty and was one of four nationally recognized videos that will be recognized later this month. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, November 6, 2013, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that the Government of the Northwest Territories conduct a planning study in the 2014-2015 fiscal year for a Sahtu regional institute of technology.
And further, that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a response to this motion within 120 days. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 13, notices of motion for first reading of bills. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, November 6, 2013, I will move that Bill 1, Reindeer Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, November 6, 2013, I will move that Bill 2, Archaeological Sites Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, November 6, 2013, I will move that Bill 3, Surface Rights Board Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Abernethy.
